


Of Treasure

by Jaakkola



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Flirting, M/M, Missions Gone Wrong, Pirates, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23049907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaakkola/pseuds/Jaakkola
Summary: A roleswap AU for someone.
Relationships: Flynn Fairwind/Mathias Shaw
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30





	Of Treasure

**Author's Note:**

> I'm tired, I've been in a writing rut, I just finished season 9 of RvB (which DEFINITELY affected the end of this fic), I don't like anything I've been writing, and I'm getting tired of the tag being quiet. So here's this. Unedited and not proofread. Because my boyfriend demanded this back in October and it took me this long to get over the weirdness of it.
> 
> This got two rewrites and several prunings, but I finish drafts eventually.

Mathias slid down to the ground, taking a deep breath. "Master Fairwind," he began.

Fairwind moved with a grunt, struggling to get himself upright from where he was thrown to the floor. "Captain Shaw," he returned.

"Please walk me through your thought process of the last ten minutes, and please walk me through it before I figure out how to strangle you with my hands bound behind my back."

Mathias' crew was entrusted to transport the Alliance spymaster and a small crate of azerite to a free port not too far from the Zandalar coast. What Fairwind was to do with a crate of azerite in a free port, Mathias wasn't entirely sure, but he wasn't paid to ask questions. Before they reached the port, however, they came across Zandalari pirates that promised to leave the crew alive if they took what they wanted. Unfortunately, one of them recognized Fairwind as an Alliance spy, and took both him and Mathias as prisoner, with the crate as a bonus.

Fairwind did nothing to ease the situation, and everything to escalate it, with asking to have the wanted poster of him the Zandalari pirates had and goading them into hitting him with his very poor grasp of the language. All their weapons were taken, even Shaw's concealed pistol and the daggers Fairwind had hidden away on his person.

"There was a lot of ways that could have gone. This was the more... desirable outcome."

"This?" Mathias asked, voice raised a bit too high.

"They were getting a bit handsy, if you catch my drift." Fairwind managed to upright himself, looking Mathias over. He seemed troubled with what he saw, which was understandable, considering Mathias was extremely frustrated with the situation at hand.

"So you got yourself punched to _solve_ the situation?"

Fairwind sighed, scooting a bit closer to Mathias. "Kept them from looking anywhere else, didn't it?" He asked, his voice a whisper.

Mathias narrowed his eyes with understanding, and suspicion. "Where?"

Fairwind tapped the heel of his left boot against the ground, a proud smile across his face.

"Perhaps you are more competent than I gave you credit for," Mathias conceded after a moment of silence.

"Didn't get to become the Spymaster of the Alliance by these looks alone, Captain." Fairwind edged closer, closer than Mathias cared for at the moment, as his smile turned playful. "Didn't hurt, however."

Mathias tried to advert the conversation away from this, saying, "so then I can assume you have a plan to get off this ship, yes?"

Fairwind's smile faltered. "Ah, well, y'know, can't leave now. There's only ocean here."

"You don't have anything."

"I'll have something, just give me a minute."

Mathias shook his head with a sigh. "The glorious Spymaster of the Alliance," he mumbled.

"I'm glorious in other aspects, not so much great sea escapes," Fairwind retorted. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the ship wall. "Aren't you the pirate captain? I would think that this would be your specialty."

"My specialty is _not_ getting captured."

"Then why did you?"

It was Mathias' turn to falter, as he couldn't easily answer that. The azerite in the hold would cause a lot of damage if caught by a cannonball or stray bullet, but they most likely would have been fine with the carpenters on board. There would have been casualties with fighting the Zandalari, but there was always casualties, and they had a prime spot to strike if Mathias gave the order, but he stopped himself. The odds hadn't been in his favor, he had told himself. That still wasn't the reason, not entirely.

Fairwind opened an eye, looking Mathias over when he didn't respond promptly enough. A lazy smile crossed his face before he closed his eyes again. "We wait 'til we near port. Cut the binds, pop the lock, and jump out the cannon ports. We go from there."

Mathias didn't respond, moving himself away from Fairwind. His cheeks burned something fierce. Curse this spy and everything he did; maybe it wouldn't be that bad if they were to be killed by the Zandalaris. Mathias did his best to distance himself from Fairwind, sitting himself at a back corner of the cell. With nothing else to do, he watched the hold with a forced practice in patience.

* * *

_"What are you gonna do when we get back home?"_

_"Dunno yet."_

_"We're gonna get a good chunk of gold when the quartermaster splits that spy's bounty, think I might—"_ Mathias scoffed from where he sat, looking away from the trolls that were having a conversation in the hold. They looked to him, one of them saying, _"you got something to say, human?"_

Mathias glanced back over to them. _"You think he's gonna split the bounty? As far as I'm concerned, he was the one that found the spy. You didn't do anything."_ He said in zandali.

_"And you don't know anything."_

_"Pirates are all the same,"_ Mathias said, _"I don't need to be a troll to know that."_ There's the sound of seagulls in the distance, a horribly familiar sound.

 _"You speak brave words for one who will die today,"_ the other troll snapped.

Mathias shrugged and looked away again. _"I've made my peace, perhaps you should as well."_

Before the trolls could respond, the sound of a bell clanging above deck rang out. _"All hands up top!"_ Someone called. The trolls moved up quickly without so much as another glance in Mathias'' direction, but he didn't mind in the slightest.

"Fairwind," Mathias called, scooting closer once again. The spymaster replied with just a hum. "We're coming upon shore, get moving."

"That quickly?" Fairwind replied, eyes still closed but his mouth turned to a frown.

"We weren't far from Zandalar, c'mon," Mathias said, trying to urge him into action.

Finally, he moved, eyes opening and a slight shift as he re-positioned himself. "No need to rush."

"We're about to be handed over to the Zandalari, I think there very much is a reason to rush."

Fairwind drew his left leg in. "Be a dear and pull my knife from my boot, will you?"

Mathias held his tongue and turned himself around, his back to Fairwind. His fingers grazed the edge of Fairwind's boot, and Mathias had to angle himself oddly to find the knife hidden away. He grabbed the hilt between his fingertips and pulled it out in a slow, cautious motion. Once it was free, Mathias flipped it into his hand and proceeded to cut his binds.

There was a certain relief that came with the ropes being cut and falling away from Mathias' wrists, both mentally and physically. He doesn't take the time to relish in the feeling, hurrying to free Fairwind. Mathias didn't miss the way Fairwind tensed when the back of the blade pressed into his skin, but he did appreciate the effort Fairwind made to relax himself with a slow breath.

"Thanks," Fairwind said when his wrists are free, rubbing at them as he rose to his feet. He ran his hands along his coat and armor, and with a small flourish of his hand, there's a lock-pick in his hand in a show of sleight of hand. "The knife, if you please," he said, other hand outstretched.

Mathias handed the knife hilt first towards Fairwind, and a quick hand took it, their fingers brushing in the motion. With a spin on his heels, he headed towards the cell door, "I'll just pop the lock here, and you'll move a cannon while I do a quick look around."

"Do we really have the time for that?"

"Look, mate, I'm not leaving this from empty-handed, let alone with less than I came with," Fairwind said as he worked the lock, frustration bleeding into his tone. "Move a cannon on the starboard side for me, _please,_ and I'll make it worth your while." Fairwind took a moment to fiddle with the lock. "That was unintended," he remarked once he realized it.

"I don't believe that."

Fairwind popped the cell door open, and tossed the knife to Mathias. "I'll get your effects, handle the cannon."

Mathias watched Fairwind head down to the bottom deck, and he sighed. Moving to the starboard side, he cut the rope that secured one of the cannons to the porthole window. With some time and effort, he pushed it enough out of the way.

Above deck, he could hear the captain yelling out orders in zandali. Mathias glanced out the porthole, looking out into the harbor and the many ships docked in it. There was one not too far from them, he could probably make the jump once they came in closer to port. "Fairwind," he hissed out into hold.

"I'm comin'!" Fairwind replied, and after a few moments, he reappeared from the lower decks, dangling Mathias' sword belt up in the air like it was a coveted prize he captured. He grinned wide, "got you a gift, special occasion, y'know."

Mathias raised an eyebrow as he looked over his belt, his swords dangled from it, as well as his grappling hook, but his pistol was missing. "Getting captured by pirates is a special occasion, spymaster?"

"For a pirate miscreant," Fairwind pushed Mathias' sword belt into his chest, "you sure aren't fun."

"I'm most likely going to be hanged–or most likely worse–by day's end," Shaw reminded with the barest sense of patience in his tone as he put on his sword belt. "My apologies if I'm not meeting your expectations. And where's my pistol?"

Fairwind flashed Mathias another grin, "you should trust me more. C'mon!" He took Mathias by the wrist and tugged him towards the ship porthole. Fairwind maneuvered out first, bracing himself against the ship's wall before leaping across the water, out to the ship docked on the other side of the harbor. His feet found the other porthole, and he held tight to the side.

With a glance over his shoulder, Mathias climbed out through the porthole. The air was hot and humid on his skin, the sun high in the sky. He pushed his short hair back as he held onto the porthole frame. Fairwind reached a hand out to Mathias, and with a grit of his teeth, he leaped over to him.

Mathias realized halfway through the jump that he wasn't gonna make it to the other ship, and Fairwind seemed to come to the same conclusion. He grabbed Mathias by the arm and pulled him up to the porthole with a, "gotcha, sailor!"

"My thanks," Mathias replied, pulling out his belt knife and cutting at the rope securing the cannon in front of the porthole. He pushed it aside and moved in. "Now what?"

"Now for a little distraction." Fairwind pulled Mathias' pistol from his coat as he climbed through the porthole, aiming carefully for the other ship. The sound of the gun firing was dwarfed by the azerite crate blowing and igniting the rest of the gunpowder on the ship. The ship rocked violently, and Mathias only had a moment to steady himself before Fairwind fell back onto him. He caught Fairwind, helping him find his balance as people started yelling.

"Oof. Thanks," he said, handing over the pistol. "Let's get moving!" He hurried up the stairs, and Mathias followed after him. A few Zandalari working topside were staring at the burning remains of the ship. The two quickly ducked out and off the ship, sprinting down the docks while the guards were distracted.

"Aren't spies supposed to be stealthy?" Mathias asked between breaths.

"Hiding in chaos!" Fairwind exclaimed, narrowly dodging a troll woman. "Left!"

Fairwind took the turn a bit too rough, sliding across the ground before heading across the large bridge. Mathias hurried after him, noting the attention they've begun to garner as he glanced behind. "We got company," Mathias informed him as Zandalari guards closed in.

"I've noticed." Mathias looked ahead to see four more guards at the other end, heading their way. Fairwind's step falters, looking to Mathias. "Well, your turn. Any bright ideas?"

Mathias looked out, taking a moment to think. "Yes, actually." He climbed up onto the large railing, and Fairwind hurried to scramble up after him. Mathias ran across the railing, gritting his teeth as an arrow missed him by a hand. 

_"Get them!"_ A guard yelled out.

Mathias stopped abruptly, turning on his heels and grabbing Fairwind by the waist. He pulled his grappling hook from its holster as Fairwind spoke, "getting a bit handsy, are—"

The rest of Fairwind's smart comment was abruptly cut off by the two of them launching across the river and onto the beach on the other side. Mathias was well-practiced in using grappling hooks, but not with another person in tow, resulting in them both crashing into the sandy bank.

"Well," Fairwind remarked as he pulled himself to his feet. "Not too shabby, sailor."

Mathias looked up and found a hand outstretched in his direction. "I'm getting too old for this," he muttered as he took Fairwind's hand.

"If it makes you feel any better, you move as well as one of my operatives."

"It doesn't."

An arrow whizzed past the two, followed by more zandali shouting. Fairwind looked over with a wild grin. "Meet you back at our outpost," he exclaimed as he ran up the beach and into the jungle. Mathias sighed, pushed the fringes of his hair back again, and followed after Fairwind.

**Author's Note:**

> Found out not too long ago that I was the only one keeping a ship afloat in another fandom I left back in 2017. If that happens here then by god, I'll do it again, and that's a threat.
> 
> And it'll be fairshaw AND shaw/nathanos. Don't test me.


End file.
